Wishing everyone a great Memorial Day weekend

I wanted to wish everyone a; happy, healthy, enjoyable, memorable, etc. Memorial Day 2015.

Here is a great article about the history of Memorial Day in the United States.

History

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service of the United States of America. Over two dozen cities and towns claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it’s difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day.

Regardless of the exact date or location of its origins, one thing is clear – Memorial Day was borne out of the Civil War and a desire to honor our dead. It was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in hisGeneral Order No. 11. “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” he proclaimed. The date of Decoration Day, as he called it, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.

On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried there.

The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war).

It is now observed in almost every state on the last Monday in May with Congressional passage of the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 – 363). This helped ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays, though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19th in Texas; April 26th in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10th in South Carolina; and June 3rd (Jefferson Davis’ birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.

Red Poppies

In 1915, inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields,” Moina Michael replied with her own poem:

We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.

She then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need. Later a Madam Guerin from France was visiting the United States and learned of this new custom started by Ms. Michael. When she returned to France she made artificial red poppies to raise money for war orphaned children and widowed women. This tradition spread to other countries. In 1921, the Franco-American Children’s League sold poppies nationally to benefit war orphans of France and Belgium. The League disbanded a year later and Madam Guerin approached the VFW for help.

Shortly before Memorial Day in 1922 the VFW became the first veterans’ organization to nationally sell poppies. Two years later their “Buddy” Poppy program was selling artificial poppies made by disabled veterans. In 1948 the US Post Office honored Ms. Michael for her role in founding the National Poppy movement by issuing a red 3 cent postage stamp with her likeness on it.

National Moment of Remembrance

The “National Moment of Remembrance” resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans “To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to ‘Taps.”

7 second chances

I was thinking about how my steps have taken me to the place in which I am. Was it happenstance? Was it by design?

I waived it off and instead I thought what if I were given 7 second chances about my life with the conditions that  (a) I could not purposely alter major aspects (b) each second chance had to be about a certain time and (c) it could not involve the same people.

Here are my 7 second chances:

Try # 1 - I would have prayed more for my mother and my little sister, Kimberly Ann Schrembs throughout the pregnancy, who (so very very sad) was born alive but died shortly thereafter due to a blood issue that (medically speaking) possibly could have been prevented.

Try # 2 - Approximately 1976 = I would have stayed at work longer so that I would not have been able to play football which, per the surgeon was a "million to one incident", I snapped the tendon in my right index finger (my throwing, and writing, hand) requiring major surgery and the placement of metal pins.

Try # 3 - Approximately 1974 = I would like to take a walk again (and these were routinely for several miles) with my grandmother and just enjoy being together and find a way to tell her how much I loved her and thank her.

Try # 4 - Approximately 1976 = I would try to absorb more about, and this only occurred once and was never spoken of again, my grandfather told me about his family.

Try # 5 - Approximately 1977 = I would have put a letter my preacher Brother Richard wrote to me, when he presented me with a rare and beautiful bible, in my pocket instead of (accidentally) throwing it away. Out of all the things I have "lost" throughout my lifetime, and many would be shocked with disbelief to learn of the details, this bible is (thankfully) in my possession to this very day.

Try # 6 - Approximately 2010 = I would have said yes to a (repeated) request.

Try # 7 - Current = I would find a way to simply, and with a sincere heart, let others know how much they have meant to me and how much they...mean to me.

Jeff Schrembs
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